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Updated 06/24/2011 10:12 PM

CityTime Contractor Repays Nearly $2.5M To City

By: NY1 News

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A contractor accused in the CityTime scandal has made good on his promise to repay nearly $2.5 million to the city.

The city's Department of Investigation said Friday that it received the money from Science Applications International Corporation, where Gerard Denault was a former project manager. He admitted to billing hours he didn't work.

Denault is one of 11 people, along with one corporation, charged in the fraud case.

Meanwhile, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that most of the cost increases for CityTime were not because of fraud.

On his radio show, he said most of the $600 million in extra costs came because initial estimates were off.

"The biggest expense was that they started out underestimating the complexity and cost of the project, and then as they went along kept adding things,” said Bloomberg. “That's the biggest chunk. But there was an unconscionable amount of fraud and we're going after it."

The mayor seemed to contradict prosecutors in the case, who claim almost all money paid to the project's main contractor was tainted by fraud.

The automated system was supposed to save the city money, cutting down on payroll waste and abuse.